SHENZHEN (China) - Zhang Ziyu turned in her best showing of the tilt thus far to power China past New Zealand, 90-68, to remain perfect in the FIBA U18 Women's Asia Cup 2024, Tuesday night at the Longhua Cultural and Sports Center.
Tested by the opposing defense especially in the game's early goings, the 2.20 M (7'2") center overcame all that and finished with 36 points on 16-of-20 shooting from the floor and 13 rebounds, along with 4 blocks for an efficiency (EFF) of 44.
Part of the starting unit after coming off the bench in their debut versus Indonesia Monday, she already had 30 to her name within the first three quarters.
The 17-year-old registered her 30th point at the 2:58-mark of the third after a shot from point-blank, which also pushed their lead to 64-44 as she played a key role in the hosts' breakaway in the said chapter en route to a 2-0 card in Group B.
Zhang and Co. will next face rivals Japan on Wednesday at 19:00 local time in a battle between unbeaten teams, with the no. 1 seed of the pool at stake.
Game heroes: Xu Fengwei was the lone double-digit scorer for Team China with 15 points, together with 5 rebounds, 7 assists, and 4 steals.
But a total of 8 players, including the 2, supplied at least points in the victory as the unit shared the ball extremely well by finishing with 28 assists.
Turning point: The home team figured in a tough battle in the first half against the gritty New Zealand, but would find their flow come the third.
With just five points separating both sides, Zhang came in and powered an 11-0 run to make it a 54-38 spread with 5:51 remaining. They would finish the frame with a commanding 71-49 advantage and the game would never be in doubt.
Stats don't lie: No other player in both divisions of this year's competition has scored 30 points and tallied 40 and above EFF until Zhang did.
FIBA